Savills Summer Scheme Review

I have really enjoyed my placement so far, the work has been varied and really interesting. I went into the department I was allocated having a basic idea of the sort of work I would be doing however to my surprise the work has been completely different and exactly the sorts of things that I enjoy on my course at university.

I felt really valued. I felt as though the team actually listen to my contribution and really took them on board rather than just went through the motions of asking me what I thought. I collaborated with members of the team on a number of projects were my opinions were used and shaped the final result.

Any of the team were open to questions and happy to help not necessarily just the member who had given me the work. In all the projects I took part in I felt as if the other members of the team I was working in were asking my opinions as they valued them rather than just telling me what to do.

The team always made sure I was busy. This time of year is particularly busy for the department as there are lots of valuations for a number of portfolios, so there was always a lot of work for me to get on with. I was regularly asked if I had enough work and monitored to check I was getting the right amount

I was given a task by one of the team and then more or less left to complete it on my own. I was given lots of creative freedom and also in charge of some fairly important projects such as the valuation of a residential portfolio, which is a really important task that I didn't expect to be handling as I'm obviously a novice

Lots of the skills like reading through leases and analysis of markets for valuation are incredibly useful skills that I was taught during my degree and have been reinforced by this work experience. As my placement has been really true to the actual job these skills will be a foundation for when I graduate.

There was quite a focused atmosphere in the office which made it easy to work. It was easy to focus on work because apart from people making calls people mainly just knuckled down to work. I'm used to working in noise but I found that I worked much more efficiently in the office

From day one I was given a clear itinerary of online training as well as events that was easy to access via the calendar section of my email. My mentor also sat down with me on the first day to let me know some of the projects she had planned for me and what sort of time scale each would take.

As summer students there were lots of online seminars we were given access to carried out by current staff and giving an insight into the sorts of positions that are available in Savills. Staff in the team I was allocated also made sure I knew exactly what I was doing an allocated time to teach me new things

When I started university Savills was one of the first big property services companies I found out about and did some research into and ever since then I have wanted to get a place on the graduate programme here. This placement has been my second experience with Savills and has only made me want a position more.

In my first week we all went for lunch which was a great chance to meet the whole team and a bit of an icebreaker. Due to the fact lots of the team split their time between offices though meant that there weren't that many opportunities to socialise outside of work.

The city is pretty expensive as whole to live and work in. There isn't a lot near the office because it is out of town and surrounded by retail/industrial estates. There is an aldi pretty close to the office and also a waitrose so both ends of the scale in terms of costing.

Again, due to the offices out of town location, there wasn't any nightlife so to speak. The city has a vibrant nightlife due to the amount of universities but seeing as I here anyway I have already had lots of experience of it and knew what to expect going in to my placement

There wasn't really any activities out of work. Some of the graduates talked about organising something outside of work but that never really came to fruition. There were 1 or 2 charity events during my placement but due to how busy I was there and the fact they were taking place on work days, I was unable to attend.